Are Angry Female Breakup Songs Meaningless? Or Are These Women Righting Romantic Wrongs?
The magic of music, heartbreak, and a woman’s love
My first breakup happened to coincide with Alanis Morissette’s volcanic eruption onto the American music scene.
It was early 1996 and I’d just spent the better part of a year trying to twist myself into knots for my boyfriend, who started physically and emotionally abusing me the moment we moved in together. An accidental pregnancy shook me to my core, forcing me to the realization that what he did to me, he would do to our daughter. And after the miscarriage, I pulled together every scrap of courage I had left and walked out of that house with nothing but a bulging suitcase.
You can bet your ass I scream-sang the lyrics to You Oughta Know every time the song came on the radio. I’d never experienced anything so cathartic and validating as Morissette’s rage. “…And I’m not gonna fade as soon as you close your eyes — and you know it!”
That first breakup was a pivotal moment for me. I’d found just the right medicine: angry female rockers singing empowering breakup songs.
Tori Amos got me through college:
“You gave him your blood
And your warm little diamond
He likes killing you after…
